Japan All Industry Activity Falls Further In April

By IBT Staff Reporter On 06/26/09 AT 2:06 AM

RTTNews - Japan's index of all industry activity dropped 9.9% year-on-year in April, slower than a 11.9% fall in the preceding month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Friday. The index has been declining on an annual basis continuously since March 2008.

Month-on-month, the index rose a seasonally adjusted 2.6% in April, reversing five consecutive months of falls. In March, the index was down 1.8%. Economists expected the index to rise 2.1% in April.